WHO IS SHEIKH MOHAMMED?

* His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum: is the prime minister and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates and the Emir, or Ruler, of Dubai, one of seven states that make up the UAE.

* Sheikh Mohammed, born in 1949, is descended from of one of the most notable prolific tribes in Arabia, Bani Yas.

* He has had a lifetime love of horses and attended his first race meeting in 1967 while he was studying at Cambridge University in England, watching Royal Palace win the 2000 Guineas with Australian jockey George Moore aboard.

* A decade later, Hatta gave him his first success as an owner on June 20, 1977.

* Sheikh Mohammed's passion for horses grew into a major bloodstock operation and has evolved into the world's largest and most global racing team, Godolphin, as well as the successful stallion operation, Darley.

* Since he established Godolphin in 1992, Sheikh Mohammed's operation has won 288 Group One races, 30 in 2018.

* The name Godolphin comes from one of the three Arabian stallions credited with being the foundation of the thoroughbred breed. The Godolphin Arabian found his way to England and began his stallion career as the property of an English aristocrat, Lord Godolphin.

* Another of the three foundation stallions was The Darley Arabian, after whom Sheikh Mohammed's stallion operation is named.